A blood marker for Parkinson’s Disease: Neuronal exosome-derived α-synuclein

Abstract To date, no reliable clinically applicable biomarker has been established for Parkinson’s disease (PD). Our results indicate that a long hoped blood test for Parkinson’s disease may be realized. We here assess the potential of pathological α-synuclein originating from neuron-derived exosomes from blood plasma as a possible biomarker. Following the isolation of neuron-derived exosomes from plasma of PD patients and non-PD individuals immunoblot analyses were performed to detect exosomal α-synuclein. Under native conditions significantly increased signals of disease-associated α-synuclein forms in neuron-derived exosomes were measured in all individuals with PD and clearly distinguished PD samples from controls. By performing a protein misfolding cyclic amplification assay these aggregates could be amplified and seeding could be demonstrated. Moreover, the aggregates exhibited β-sheet-rich structures and showed a fibrillary appearance. Our study demonstrates that the detection of pathological α-synuclein conformers from neuron-derived exosomes from plasma samples has the potential of a promising blood-biomarker of PD.